Mummies come alive for viewers of new IMAX film

Mummies can be fascinating enough on their own, but when they appear on a movie screen that's 80 feet wide and six stories tall, they have a way of really grabbing someone's attention.

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Kids and adults alike will enjoy traveling back in time 3,000 years to learn some of the secrets behind the ancient Egyptians' efforts to preserve what they called the "sacred gift of life." Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs, now playing at the World Golf Hall of Fame's IMAX Theater, follows the discovery of the tomb of Rameses II, Egypt's most revered pharaoh, and offers viewers a graphic, yet tactful explanation of the mummification process.

Breathtaking visuals carry the audience back and forth from reenactments depicting life in ancient Egypt to present-day footage of towering obelisks and shadowy tombs. The film offers a good balance of visual entertainment and scientific documentary. One scene seamlessly takes viewers from an exciting embalming reenactment into an educational presentation about DNA and its extraction from mummies that have been preserved for thousands of years. Another scene shows ancient Egyptians carrying a sarcophagus out of a tomb and then faded into a shot of the tomb as it looks today.

The film also presents the modern-day exploits of Bob Brier, internationally known as the first person in 2,000 years to mummify a human cadaver in the ancient Egyptian manner. Brier's experiment helped scientists gain insight into modern human genetics and DNA extraction methods. Fanatics of the television series CSI will enjoy the forensics behind the project. According to the researchers, the working recipe for embalming and mummifying a cadaver includes a mixture of natural salt, baking soda, seven sacred oils, frankincense, myrrh, beeswax, pine resin, and honey.

The vivid footage of unwrapped mummies may be a bit graphic for toddlers, but most youngsters will probably be more fascinated than frightened. There is one reenactment of a pharaoh's internal organs being removed as part of the embalming process, to which little ones and adults alike might respond with a quiet "yuck."

High-tech computer graphics are put to good use in the film's reenactments, and the music is reminiscent of Indiana Jones movies. The big screen really helps viewers appreciate Egypt's gigantic columns, statues, and pyramids. Director Keith Melton said, "Besides, who doesn't want to look at a 3,000-year-old Egyptian pharaoh on a screen that's six to seven stories tall?"

The film also presents some historical information about Heinrich Brugsch, who discovered Rameses II's tomb in 1881, along with some fascinating facts behind the discovery of the Rosetta Stone, the famous code-breaking key for deciphering ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. It was fascinating to learn that the mummies of dozens of other Egyptian royals were found in Rameses II's tomb. Brugsch discovered the tomb after being pressured by some local tomb-raiders to buy artifacts he knew had belonged to a pharaoh.

Viewers may be relieved to know that there are no helicopters-flying-over-the-mountains IMAX theatrics to upset their stomachs, but some IMAX regulars may miss that experience. Overall, the 40-minute presentation is entertaining and educational, and it offers some fascinating insight behind secrets discovered more than three millenia later